Reviews tagging 'Classism'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

363 reviews

breadkingbread's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Okay, so, how do i even start? Obviously it is very compelling and i thought the characters were interesting, and other than a few hiccups (some weird lines, the whole, uhm, (spoilers), siblings thing) also very *human*. I enjoyed reading about their "shenanigans". Also, at the same time, i definitely hear people when they say that (paraphrasing from memory here) it is a book *pretending* to be very smart and academic by using big words, but it's not holding up when you actually start to look into it. I did get that, too. Despite that i get what she was going for and she does to it pretty well, mostly, despite some smaller gripes i had with it while reading.

Also a smaller spoiler but the whole "Isram" thing feels incredibly out of place. Like this book references real life cultures and bigotry so many times but she felt the need to create a whole new place which is obviously just there as a stand-in for like any "Arab" country? Just feels like it was made specifically so that these short parts of the book had a sort of fictionalized cloak on them while leaving everything else largely realistic (in terms of cultures) for reasons unknown to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Murder, and Grief

Minor: Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Violence, Antisemitism, Classism, Islamophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Suicide

catievalentino's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Drug use, Death, Incest, Cursing, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Classism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Minor: Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, Vomit, Car accident, Child death, Gun violence, Medical content, Violence, and Blood

valeriedittrich's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

she totally named the twins camilla and charles on purpose 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Classism

Moderate: Incest and Homophobia

leiaamy's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Gore, Addiction, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Drug use, Cursing, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Incest, Murder, Violence, and Classism

midnightrain_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, Classism, Homophobia, and Mental illness

cmcrockford's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Fiendish and brutal, closer to Waugh or Highsmith than many best sellers. Captures the horror of making friends at college then realizing these bastards are around you now allllll the time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Incest, Grief, Gun violence, Alcohol, Vomit, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, Suicide, Violence, Homophobia, Classism, and Infidelity

ramizrafimirza's review against another edition

challenging dark funny informative inspiring mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Violence, Incest, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Homophobia

place6o_ffct's review against another edition

Plot got too thin. Eventually it felt like just futzing around following the characters—and without the sense of progression from the plot, I got bored. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Gaslighting

Minor: Incest

saaturnslover's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

SO GOOOOD ARGHHHH

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Suicide, and Death

Moderate: Addiction, Incest, Alcoholism, Homophobia, and Alcohol

Minor: Classism, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

librerin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

~ the intrigue ~
It was a really compelling story where I never really knew how it would end. However, I didn't always buy the characters or their actions. I wish there had been more time given to flushing out their relationships (part of the lack seems to have been intentional to add to the air of mystery, but sometimes that made the reveals feel underwhelming or undeserved). A neat aesthetic trek into dark academia, but with all its flaws too (whiteness, elitism, wealth).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Incest, Homophobia, Classism, and Self harm